Friday, December 5, 2008

I Miss Blogging! Final Hot for the Holidays Weight Loss Post

Hey There!I cannot believe that I have not posted anything since my year anniversary off cigarettes! Amazingly enough, I still do not smoke cigarettes and even though I think about them, I know that if I actually light up, I do not know if or when I will be able to quit again. I always try to remember that I am "A puff away from a pack a day habit" and I really do not want to go back to being a slave to Nicotine or should I say Nico-demon! When I went to the doctor's the other day he told me they were getting a ton of reports about Chantix side effects and all I can say is I am glad it worked so well for me. I am glad that I was able to take it and have it successfully assist me in my quit! Blogging helped quite a bit also. Support is always nice.

I really miss blogging but have been too busy to even post anything. Also, since I am working two jobs, I am feeling too lazy! I guess I really am an all or nothing kind of girl as I either really blog, work out, eat right, quit smoking or I don't. I have been kind of so-so with my eating plan but really wanted to post since its the end of the Hot for the Holidays contest. I also felt bad after a couple people were kind enough to e-mail me, and ask exactly where the hell I was. I figured I should at least check in.

First, I want to send a shout out to Christie O. over at "Baby Tea Leaves" Blog. She so rocks for hosting the Hot for the Holidays Contest. It is a really motivating experience to know even if I screw up for the week, someone else is going to motivate me to get on task for the next week. I do not know how much I have lost since the beginning of the "Hot for the Holidays" contest, but I do know that I have lost a total of 20 pounds since August 16, 2008. This week I lost two pounds which put me at 20 pound mark instead of 18! For whatever reason, I just like the sound of a solid 20 better!

Even thought my diet and exercise program is FAR from perfect, I have made significant changes that I can pretty much stick with. I STILL pack my lunch daily and do not eat a ton of junk! I have had only one meal in the school cafeteria and that was out of desperation! I try to avoid junk foods for the most part and have cut certain foods out of my diet completely or eat them really rarely. Soda is like a once a month treat! I could not go back to eating the way I was and when I have eaten a couple of really bad meals or I ate too much, I got very sick! My body just cannot process food the way it used to! That could be considered a good or a bad thing. For example, I went to Magianno's for Thanksgiving dinner and basically stuffed myself! The food there is AMAZING and it was "All you can eat." Lets just say I got SUPER sick and just because "All you can eat" is offered does not mean I need to take the restaurant up on it! I need to be able to see at least half my plate and then see the food on it! I do not think I will eat like that again any time soon. Anyway, thanks for all of the motivation Christie and fellow bloggers! I am not going to go nuts now that the contest is over...in fact my plan is to SCHEDULE more exercise into my week! I see these two women I work with walking around the school every morning like clockwork and the are literally MELTING away....since September they have lost a ton of weight and their determination has motivated me! I see them walking for probably a half hour EVERY morning no matter what the weather and the results speak for themselves! I have taken it as far as I can go with dietary change! I really need to commit to more exercise!

Anyway, for all of you who have been participating in this challenge, keep up the good work and congratulations to everyone on their losses.

7 comments:

Diva, you just keep doing what you are doing. You can always tweak this and adjust that. Life style change is what this is. Slow and lasting results are what we want, not fast and fleeting. I went from 172 to 148 over 16 months. All I wanted was to quit smoking, not gain weight and start reversing the bad affects of tobacco. Good stuff happens!

I know, right, having a quitter president - hopefully - will make some sort of a difference (maybe he'll be biased against the tobacco companies, knowing how addictive this nicotine shit is). So I totally agree!

And yes, you are right, it'd be good to hang out at some point! Just that Maggie was my quitting twin back over a year ago, and I sort of had to meet her after all the incredible support she's given me in the toughest of the moments. That's probably the closest we would have gotten to meet in years, so I had to make an effort among all the school/work craziness. Us, on the other hand, we have a luxury of more flexibility.

So glad that you are sticking with the better eating. With all that's been going on, I've pretty much gone off track, but I look forward to getting back on track soon, as in as soon as my dishes and pots and pans and spices arrive off the moving van. :)

Wow, looks like I wasn't the only one who has been away! I hear you on the all or nothing blogging thing, though. That's what's been keeping me away lately. I feel that if I'm going to blog, I need to be a really good blogger -- frequent updates, always keeping posted on other ppl's blogs, etc ...

Congrats on your solid 20 pounds! I'm so proud of you! Those lifestyle changes you're making will ensure a slow but steady drop in weight as time goes on. Step up your game a bit, and you'll be shedding the pounds like crazy.

Wee Me!

About Me

I am currently blogging away about my experiences using the stop smoking drug Chantix to quit my 30 year addiction to nicotine and tobacco. I also talk about my life in general now that the cravings have subsided.